Whether you want to explore online dating for the first time and you’re not sure about it or want to find out if your partner is cheating, browsing Tinder without an account can be quite helpful.

You can be on Tinder without anyone knowing if you carefully follow a few steps to open your Tinder account.

There’s no need to panic that you will leave any trace of being on Tinder! Here are 11 ways to be on Tinder without anyone knowing:

1. You can use the Tinder feature called Block Contacts

One secure, easy, and free way to be on Tinder without anyone knowing is to use the Block Contacts Feature on Tinder.

This feature on Tinder allows you to prevent being seen by particular people from your contact list.

This means, if the phone number you block on Tinder ever joins Tinder, they won’t be able to see you.

This, however, does not mean that you’ll block that phone number from your contact list.

You’ll only block them on Tinder to prevent them from seeing your profile on the app. Here’s how you do that:

• Profile icon > Settings > Block Contacts
• The next step is to confirm that you permit Tinder to have access to your Contacts.
• Then you want to select the contacts you don’t want to see – or be seen by – on Tinder.
• And finally, tap ‘Block Contacts’.

This way you don’t risk being seen by people you don’t want to be seen on Tinder, hence maintaining your anonymity.

Your profile won’t come up on their feed, and they won’t show up on theirs.

This feature is free of charge. And, in case you’re worried about it, the people you block on Tinder won’t ever be notified that you did so.

2. Turn off the ‘Show Me’ on Tinder to use it without anyone knowing.

Tinder offers you another way to stay discreet and maintain your privacy as you wish.

You can choose to not be seen by other people on the app, and you’re not required to be subscribed to any of Tinder’s premium features for this.

All it takes is, tapping the profile icon > Settings > Show Me on Tinder > Tap to switch off.

What this will do is it’ll make your profile invisible to Tinder users who didn’t see your profile to this point.

You will be able to chat with your matches, and they’ll be able to see your profile, but people you didn’t match won’t see your profile.

Note that profiles won’t be shown on your card stack either.

3. Adjust your privacy settings using Tinder Plus’ features.

If you open your Tinder account for the first time make sure to immediately go to the Settings.

You don’t want to swipe, not just yet. What you’ll have to do is, go to your account’s settings right away.

If you don’t want to fear anything while using Tinder anonymously, then you’ve got to, at the very least, subscribe to Tinder Plus.

It costs $7.99 for one month only, or if you decide to get it for 6 months only $4 per month.

If you do decide to subscribe to Tinder Plus, among the many other helpful features, you’ll get the chance to

• Control who you see. This is where Tinder shows you only people you’ve already liked before.
• Go Incognito on Tinder. This one gives you the opportunity to be shown to people you swipe right, and be hidden from people you swipe left.
• Control your profile. Allows you to choose to hide your location and/or age.
• Passport. This feature allows you to explore potential matches outside your country, hence showing you far away from the people who know you.

To activate this, simply go to Settings, and select Tinder Plus.

To activate Tinder Plus’ features mentioned above, go to Settings and turn the toggles on or off to your desires.

Note: If you want more advanced features on Tinder, you can also use Tinder Gold or Tinder Platinum – they both include the aforementioned features!

4. Don’t use your email: Create a new email to use Tinder without anyone knowing.

Many other sources might suggest you go undercover by creating a fake profile.

But let me tell you. Doing it will only lead you to be banned and hopeless.

Use an email that you don’t use for other purposes so it won’t link you in any way with other people that you know.

There are a lot of search services such as Swindlerbuster that can search profiles on Tinder by email.

If someone wants to find out you’re using Tinder and they decide to look you up by email, you’re likely to be discovered.

Hence, to eliminate the odds of that happening, you can create a new email and join it on Tinder.

5. Avoid linking your social media to your Tinder account.

Among the many precautions you can take when trying to use Tinder discreetly, is to avoid linking your socials to your Tinder account.

Your Instagram Followers or Facebook Friends won’t be notified you’re using the app.

However, Tinder can show some of your, say Instagram, posts – without showing your Instagram username or other clues.

Not to mention how Tinder’s algorithm works in strange ways, it may detect your Facebook friends or Instagram followers near you, hence showing you to them or vice versa to increase the chances of you getting a good match.

You can open your account with your phone number or email. To keep it more discreet and safe, leave your social media out of it!

6. Use a separate number from your main one to open a Tinder account.

To avoid seeing Tinder profiles near you and going undercover on Tinder use a secondary number.

You can buy a burner number that you won’t use for other purposes other than creating this Tinder account.

If you happen to have a spare phone number that people you know aren’t aware of, even better, you can use that one.

In the meantime, to play it even safer, you can use the Block Contacts feature and block the contacts you don’t want to see on Tinder.

This is an extra measure because a lot of search sites can search Tinder by phone number, and if you’re using your phone number, then you’re exposed!

So, to play it safe, you can use a

• burner number (also known as disposable phone number),
• the spare number you happen to have,
• or, a friend’s phone number.

7. Use a nickname instead of your full name.

Beware and don’t use nicknames that you use on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Choose a nickname that none of your friends or family know of because using something similar will expose you.

Keep in mind that using a fake name or username might get you banned and might not give cool vibes to other profiles.

If you want to be anonymous on Tinder then don’t use your full name, yet, use something legit that’s enough to not get you banned from the app.

You can use something simple that won’t get enough attention but is real enough to not get you banned.

Get creative on this one!

8. Pick the right pictures to maintain your anonymity on Tinder.

Putting photos that show your entire face might ruin our master plan to stay hidden or undiscovered by people we know on Tinder.

You can pick facial or physical attributes you think are the best you have and give focus to those in your pictures.

For example, if you think your lips are attractive, put your lips on your pictures, but not your entire face.

However, you want to make sure that these pictures look good, clear, and not creepy, otherwise you risk not getting any matches.

You want to use photos that are ambiguous and more artistic but that won’t get you banned from Tinder.

9. Create your own Swiping Strategy.

You cannot join Tinder without an account thus you need another strategy to use.

You can create your swiping strategy.

• Go to Settings and change your Radius so your account won’t be visible to locals.
• Swipe only on specific people and try to check the location of those profiles too.
• Take a close look at the profiles before you swipe right on them.
• If it’s someone you might know, or who might know you, it’s a left swipe!

This way you increase your chances of avoiding the people you don’t want to be seen by, especially by accident.

10. Turn your Tinder notifications off.

If you have your Tinder notifications on, then you won’t be able to use your phone around other people without at least one knowing you’ve got Tinder.

That’s because Tinder has a very famous icon and logo, so much so, that nearly everyone knows what it looks like without the need to see ‘Tinder’ written below it.

Hence, if you want to use Tinder without anyone knowing, turn the Tinder notifications off!

11. Use Tinder in Incognito Mode.

Browsing Tinder in Incognito Mode on the web will release you from the need to continuously erase your browsing history.

Although browsing in Incognito Mode won’t protect your online privacy, this will, at least, not show your activity on your history.

You won’t risk forgetting to delete your search or browsing history on Google, hence, this is yet another safe bet toward anonymity on Tinder!

Keep in mind that Google will be able to detect if you open a Tinder account. 

This will be useless if you don’t follow the steps above.

If you use your real information, people can see you’re using Tinder by simply googling your name and adding Tinder to it!

How to pay for Tinder discreetly?

You can pay for Tinder discreetly by paying cash or creating a separate Paypal.

Even if you’re using it to find out whether your partner is cheating on you or you want to try Tinder for the first time, don’t worry.

First, you should know that Tinder is a free-of-charge app but if you want extra features then you need to pay a certain amount.

Tinder Plus, for example, as I mentioned above requires a particular payment for it to get activated.

However, if you want to keep your discretion, then you can

• Use a PayPal account that is not directly linked to your bank account;
• You can buy a Tinder Gold or Platinum GiftCard and pay cash for it;
• Check if you can open a Prepaid account so you can load it with money and use it to pay online;
• Ask a friend if they can make the payment for you, so you can then give them the cash to pay them back;
• Many banks offer you the option of not getting out the information regarding that account;

Can I browse Tinder without joining?

You can see Tinder profiles without joining Tinder, but you cannot browse or swipe on Tinder without joining.

By ‘browsing Tinder’ I mean swiping on people, matching with people on Tinder; having conversations with matches on Tinder.

That’s impossible to do without joining Tinder or creating an account on Tinder.

But you can check if someone has a Tinder profile if you

• use third-party apps such as Swindlerbuster, SocialCatfish, or Spokeo;
• Search them on Google by typing ‘site:tinder.com their name’ or ‘tinder.com@theirusername’;
• Use a friend’s account to swipe on Tinder profiles.

If you want to be on Tinder without joining, then unfortunately, it’s impossible.

If you choose to join it, enjoy it and be safe out there!